The Kelanitissa Power Station is a state-owned power station located on the south bank of the

Kelani River The Kelani River ( si, කැළණි ගඟ) is a river in Sri Lanka. Ranking as the fourth-longest river in the country, it stretches from the Sri Pada Mountain Range to Colombo. It flows through or borders the Sri Lankan districts of Nuwara ...

in the northern part of the city of

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, Sri Lanka. Commissioned in 1964, it is the first thermal power station built in Sri Lanka, after the country gained independence. The facility has a current gross installed capacity of , a significant amount when compared to the total installed capacity of nearly in the year 2017. The facility is owned and operated by the

Ceylon Electricity Board The Ceylon Electricity Board - CEB ( si, ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලය - ලංවිම, Lankā Vidulibala Mandalaya - Lanwima; ta, இலங்கை மின்சார சபை - இமிச), is the largest el ...

. The power station has a total of 10 generation units: two boiler steam units, six

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

s, one gas turbine, and one combined cycle unit. As of 2018, both units and two units were decommissioned after the commissioning of the combined cycle unit. The old units are now used as peak-load units. The was sent to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for renovations in 2011. The newest naphtha-fuelled combined cycle unit was commissioned in August 2002. It consists of a gas turbine and a steam turbine, and one exhaust heat recovery boiler. The project was funded by the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan. Initially, the capacity was planned at with two or three units, but a single unit with higher capacity was subsequently chosen.

Incidents

* On 28 October 2008 at 23:30, the LTTE launched two bombs in an aerial attack on the power station, causing a fire and damaging the government-owned Fiat unit. It took six months to restore the unit while one person was reported to have died, possibly due to shock. The attack was carried out using a Czech-built Zlín Z 42 single-engine trainer aircraft. * On 21 April 2012 at about 03:00, a fire erupted at the power station complex, damaging the main switchboard for the plant's power generation machinery. Power generation was ceased, but did not trigger any blackouts due to alternative sources being available at the time. Six employees of the power station who inhaled noxious fumes as a result of the fire were hospitalized. * On 3 February 2022 at about 20:00, the combined power station was shut down due to lack of fuel

References

{{Electricity in Sri Lanka Oil-fired power stations in Sri Lanka Natural gas-fired power stations in Sri Lanka Japan International Cooperation Agency Buildings and structures in Colombo

Incidents

See also

References